The present invention relates to the art of board games for multiple players and, more particularly, to a board game which teaches a basic understanding of the fundamentals of eating a healthful balanced meal based on the foundations of the food pyramid.
It is common knowledge among nutritionists and teachers that there are five basic food groups. In order to balance a daily diet one must eat food from each of the five food groups. This game deals with the minimum daily requirements according to the USDA guidelines for a balanced meal which are: one food from the milk group, one food from the protein group, one food from the fruit group and two foods from the grain and vegetable groups. Devices such as charts, books, and pyramid diagrams exist which are used to teach children and adults the suggested minimum and maximum food requirements for a balanced daily diet. However, some individuals and, specifically, children do not have the attention span or desire to learn these principles from the existing medium. Thus, it is readily apparent that it would be highly desirable to provide a means by which the principles of eating a well-balanced diet can be taught and reinforced in a multifaceted, highly compressed time frame and in a manner which is both educational and entertaining. This game provides a way to learn, reinforce and apply the knowledge imparted in both the English and Spanish languages.
The present invention provides a board game which is specifically adapted for multiple players. A purpose of the game is to teach the fundamental aspects of nutrition. The present invention is an improvement over existing devices and charts. It provides a board game particularly adapted for multiple players that teaches the fundamental aspects of nutrition in both the English and Spanish languages. The cards, menus and spinners are printed in both the English and Spanish languages thus simultaneously exposing the players to both languages. Another aspect unique to this game is the use of a menu as its paradigm. The players use their menu to record the food that is named on the card he/she has drawn during play.
The board game provided introduces several elements of chance, which include wild spaces, take a spin spaces, and the ability of a player to advance along the game board from a start point to a finish along a variety of paths. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a game which teaches the prevailing nutritional fundamentals in a compressed time frame by using a means which is entertaining to the players. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a game in which the lessons resulting from play are essentially self- taught and do not require the intervention of an instructor. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a unique, multifaceted bilingual type of board game has been developed in this invention. It includes several elements of gaming together with educational and entertainment aspects which, in combination, have heretofore been unappreciated. Moreover, those skilled in the art will also recognize the above-mentioned features and advantages of the board game together with other aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description and the claims which follow in conjunction with the drawings.
The salient points of the game are:
1. The use of a menu as a paradigm for recording a player""s progress along a travel path.
2. Two hundred fifty food group cards which identify a large variety of foods from each food group.
3. Providing a visual association between exercise, physical activity and good health through the graphics on the box, game board and xe2x80x9cwildxe2x80x9d cards.
4. Through the enjoyment of play the player is exposed to a healthful diet and the respective food groups that comprise such a diet.
5. The gameboard paths provide freedom of choice and the element of chance to travel in any direction back and forth along the travel path.
6. Spinners printed in both the English and Spanish languages provide an opportunity for a player to acquire more than one food on a turn.
7. Game cards with specific drawings introduce players to foods that they might not otherwise become familiar with.
8. The educational value is multifaceted because a player""s chance to win necessitates reading, writing, speaking, visualizing, thinking, associating, and exposing the mind to both the English and Spanish languages.
9. Each player""s xe2x80x9cturnxe2x80x9d and every game is different as the menu card is completed based on chance by a roll of the die, the wild spaces and the spinner.